I am writing this "in haste" as I prepare to travel interstate for the third week in a row! I trust everyone is refreshed after having a few weeks off and that we are all looking forward to playing some good chess in the next few weeks!

JUNIOR COACHING - coaching at Croydon Chess during Term 4 will be British player Carl Gorka who recently scored 5.5/9 in the Australian Masters (rating performance 2371). Carl is a multi-talented individual who apparently also counts fire-eating (!) amongst his abilities. Since Carl has a scheduled game next Thursday evening in the Victorian Open, we will have a special guest coach for the evening in Women's International Master (WIM) Anastasia Sorokina. It will be especially beneficial for our junior girls to learn from such a great player, so make a special effort to be there next week!

Winner of the reserves automatically qualifies for next year's championship. Clocks start at 7:45pm sharp.

RANGES CHALLENGE - congratulations to all who represented our club with distinction in the challenge matches against Ranges Chess Club. I was away last week, but I heard on the grapevine that we performed well in the return leg and managed to win the junior match. Despite losing the senior match 2-3, we did win the seniors overall on aggregate score! Special thanks to Warren Whitham who organised the return match and made lots of phone calls to ensure that everyone got there on the night. Thanks Warren!

PRESENTATION NIGHT - our presentation night is coming up on Thursday, 1st December 2005. Format for the night is still under discussion, so stand by for more information shortly.